March 2019 Volume LIV Number 2

More Parents Report Healthy Tooth Brushing Habits After First Year!

November 2013 Volume XLIX Number 6

On the one-year anniversary of the Kids' Healthy Mouths campaign, the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives and the Ad Council are pleased to announce results from a new study that demonstrate substantial progress in the effort to improve children's oral health habits. The survey, administered to English and Spanish-speaking parents, indicates that more parents report regularly monitoring and maintaining their child's oral health; subsequently, more children are regularly brushing.

Since the Kids' Healthy Mouths campaign launched in August 2012, it has received tremendous media exposure through widespread TV, radio, print, outdoor and digital Public Service Advertisements (PSAs) in both English and Spanish, resulting in more than $33 million in donated ad time and space. The PSAs aim to reduce the prevalence of dental decay by motivating parents to promote good oral health habits with their kids by reminding them to brush two minutes, twice a day to avoid oral pain in the future.

According to the study administered by the Ad Council:

More than 50 percent of parents surveyed have seen or heard the new Kids' Healthy Mouths PSAs.

Significantly more parents in 2013 report that their child brushes at least twice a day compared to before the campaign launched (55 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 48 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 69 percent in 2012).

Parents in 2013 were also more likely to report their child brushes for at least two minutes each time (64 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 60 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanishspeaking parents in 2013, up from 69 percent in 2012).
An increased number of English and Spanish-speaking parents report being "good" or "very good" at making sure their child brushes at least twice a day (65 percent of Englishspeaking parents in 2013, up from 60 percent in 2012, and 77 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 73 percent in 2012) for two minutes each time (58 percent of English-speaking parents in 2013, up from 53 percent in 2012, and 79 percent of Spanish-speaking parents in 2013, up from 75 percent in 2012).

Since the campaign launch, there have been more than 1.3 million visitors to the campaign website, 2min2x.org, which offers a collection of free, two-minute videos — featuring notable characters from children's shows and networks, including Sesame Street and Cartoon Network— that kids can watch while brushing. The campaign has also benefited from tremendous press coverage, partnerships with influential parent-focused websites, endorsements from celebrity moms and strong support from the dental community.

aDDItIOnaL CaMPaIGn InItIatIvES

The campaign has gone further in recent months — offering children's oral health tips to parents on their cell phones via SMS messages. Parents can subscribe by texting "BRUSH" to 30364 or by visiting the homepage of 2min2x.org. In the upcoming months, the campaign will launch a new mobile game app for kids and their parents and a new national in-school oral health education program that aims to reach lower income and minority children and their families. English and Spanish language brochures will also be distributed to dental offices this fall.

OnLInE tOOLkIt

To help support the effort and for a number of helpful resources related to the campaign, please visit the online toolkit at: http:// www.2min2x.org/campaign-materials